a great film until the ending

michaelcommins

an intriguing comment on american 1950's lifestyle.All the elements are there-beautiful home,old football from school days,large fridge, young son, sexy wife.But underlying it all is strain and insecurity. This has to be paid for, health may collapse, the world is insecure-hydrogen bombs etc. All this, through the deus ex machina of cortisone addiction-drives James Mason to a madness of excess, of a kind of lust for pure quality, beautiful clothes for his wife ,zeal for learning, for sporting excellence,finally to an old testament manic purging of evil.The film survives its banal and turgid ending,but domestic bliss,domestic dementia and restrained domestic sex have seldom been better portrayed.

score /10

michaelcommins 13 April 2002

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0057259/